Apostrophe at Large

This pesky punctuation mark has weaseled its way into some unsuspecting “take-out order’s.” It was also recently spotted in a pamphlet, asking readers to take a moment to donate to a good cause, with the claim that “it only take’s a second.”

Keep your eyes peeled for wayward apostrophes in your plural nouns or present tense verbs with the third-person singular—they could be dangerous!

If you want to confront the beast head-on, pick up a copy of Lynne Truss ’s Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, or check out Grammar Girl ’s two-part breakdown of the apostrophe. For all the apostrophe dos and don’ts, subscribe to The Chicago Manual of Style Online .